Second Time
by Shadowzamy
Summary: A second time... A second chance... and a single wish to make it happen... "Normally, I am not one who would toy with time, fate, or whatever you call it, but I also believe that some things need to be changed." Yoh never could have guessed that just a small visit to Funbari hill would turn out to be a decision that would change things in ways he couldn't imagine. HaoxYoh
1. A Chance to Change

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

'_thoughts / flashbacks_'

"_singing_~"

xXx

The muscles in Yoh's arms and legs felt like breaking as he ran back to the house, carrying the ten bags of heavy groceries that Anna told him to get. His training had become far worse ever since he had got the oracle bell from Silva. Anna hadn't given him a single break since he started and his body was paying dearly for it. He wouldn't be surprised it one day he just dropped from exhaustion.

A smile formed on his lip as he walked through the door to his house, thinking that finally his training would be done for the day. Apparently not. When he finally looked up, he found himself the target of one of Anna's trademark icy glares. Suddenly, the thought of passing out from exhaustion didn't seem like his biggest worry anymore.

"You're late." Anna said coolly.

"Sorry?" Yoh squeaked.

"You're not sorry. Now, go get started on your chores before I give you something to be sorry about." Anna snapped.

"Yes, Anna!" Yoh called before getting started on his chores, hoping to avoid her wrath.

It took him a few hours to get everything done and it didn't help that Anna glared at him the entire time that he was working. She pointed out every miniscule flaw and even made him redo several of the things that he did right. When he was finally finished and Anna had let him alone, he left the inn for a short walk to calm his nerves. It had been a while since he had been to funbari hill and he was looking forward to going and watching the stars.

The wind blew harshly against his skin as drew nearer to the graveyard, every step he took felt like he was running on ice. When he finally reached the front gates, he was greeted by the rustle of leaves and the ring of a few wind-chimes. He wasn't surprised that the place looked deserted, normal people rarely came through and the ghosts usually hung out at the top of the hill. It was a little unnerving, however, when he still couldn't hear the usual chatter of spirits even after reaching the top of the stairs.

"..._ Will it make a change, or will it all stay the same? No one can know what this future holds. The mystery is what keeps us waiting~ _"

The eerie song made Yoh jump. He didn't normally get scared easily, but when you get a bad feeling and then something startles you, it can happen. His eyes darted to each side, scanning the area for any possible source of the noise. When turned to look behind him, he noticed a strange silhouette sitting on the branch of an old tree. After a moments hesitation, he walked a little closer to it, until he was able to see the person a bit more clearly.

The stranger appeared to be about sixteen, possibly a bit older. Raven black hair peaked out from his black and white, animal eared hoodie. Both the hood and the guy's hair helped cover his eyes, making it rather difficult to see anything above the person's nose. He was wearing a pair of black and white track pants and no shoes, which was a little odd. After his observation of the person was over, he noticed that the guy was looking over at him.

"Hi, my name's Yoh, what's yours?" Yoh asked curiously.

"Nox... It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Though, I already knew your name... Yoh." Nox said absentmindedly.

"You wanted to meet me?" Yoh asked.

"Yes." Nox replied, seeming to snap out of his previous daze. "Do you believe in past lives?"

"Yea, but I don't think that I have one." Yoh said hesitantly.

"Well, you do and you don't, but that is a story for another day." Yoh looked up at him in confusion, but Nox merely continued with the conversation. "Do you trust your family?"

"They're my family, of course I trust them." Yoh replied simply.

"Even if they were hiding something important from you? What if they are lying to you about something that would probably change your life? Would you still trust them then? If they wanted you to fight and kill someone that they claimed _can't be saved_, would you?" Nox inquired, his tone almost as cold as the winter night breeze.

Yoh looked at Nox in a mix of confusion, worry, and unease. Why would a complete stranger be asking him all these questions? Nox merely sighed as he hopped off of the tree branch, landing a mere foot away from where Yoh was. However, after noticing how quickly Yoh took a step away form him, his expression softened and he almost looked a bit sad.

"You are thirteen now and the shaman tournament has just started. If you go now then you may be disqualified from the shaman tournament, but if you leave things as they are, the consequences could be tragic." Nox took a deep breath before continuing. "I understand completely if you refuse and wish to stay but... Would you like to travel back to the past and find the meaning behind what I have been saying?"

"What?" Yoh asked in disbelief.

"Normally, I am not one who would toy with time, fate, or whatever you would call it, but I also believe that some things need to be changed. As long as you do not affect the past too harshly, I can allow it. So, I will ask you again... Would you like to travel back to the past?" Nox repeated.

"Travel back to the past? How is that even possible? Why would you want me to anyway?" Yoh questioned.

"It might help you form your own opinion on a subject which will present itself in the near future, as well as a few other things..." Nox trailed off, becoming lost in thought once more.

"Alright then. If it can help me later then it should be fine. Daijobu datte nantoka naru." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"...I almost forgot to mention that if you go, you will go as a spirit. Unlike other spirits, for you it will be almost the same as being alive. The only difference will be that if you receive a fatal wound you will fade back into a spirit instead of dying. Now that you know all of this, do you still want to go?" Nox asked, waiting for any sign of refusal.

"I'll go." Yoh replied with a slight shrug.

Nox nodded in understanding and began to chant in an unrecognizable language. The chant strangely resembled a lullaby and as the chant continued, a strange barrier formed around the cemetery. Yoh started to feel light headed as it became harder and harder for him to stay awake.

The stars flew through the the night sky in such a way that would leave almost anyone in a trance. No longer able to push away the calling of sleep Yoh finally dozed off, traveling back to the world of the past. Once Yoh's spirit had left, his body went into a state of suspended animation.

After Nox was positive that Yoh wouldn't wake up, he carefully picked him up and started walking towards a certain official's presence. Even though he said that Yoh might be disqualified, he couldn't actually let that happen. He disappeared into the faint shadows of the moonlight before reappearing at the edge of Japan, a few hundred miles from where they originally were, and sabotaging Yoh's oracle bell. Once he felt the official's presence come nearer, he vanished once more, leaving Yoh's unconscious form in the hands of the patch official.

XxX

Goldva stared at the boy lying on the ground in front of her, surprised that she was able to recognize him. He was a tournament participant called Yoh, his oracle bell was broken, and he appeared dead. She didn't want any accidents, so she decided to make sure before deciding to visit the morgue. After much further inspection and a few minutes passed, she realized that he was still alive. It was very faint, but she could still sense furryoku from within his body.

If she took him back to his home, it would be directly interfering with some of the other tournament participants, so she couldn't do that. Taking him back to the village seemed like the best option at the moment, even though it was still interfering, at least she would be able to ask the great spirit what to do once she arrived. The boy was unconscious and wouldn't know where the village was. So, no harm done.

She let out a sight of relief upon seeing that Rutherfor was the only one who came to greet her. It would have been difficult to to explain the situation to the rest of the officials. Rutherfor, on the other-hand, didn't ask any questions and just walked silently behind her as she walked into the Patch's main building. Goldva laid Yoh down in one of the Patch guest rooms and then left to go request a meeting with the king of spirits.

'_I wonder what's wrong with him?_' Rutherfor thought as she gazed at Yoh's form. It wouldn't take Goldva long to finish her meeting, which left Rutherfor with only a few minutes at most to find out what was wrong before she came back.

'_Goldva said that he wasn't dead, but he certainly looks like it... Huh? What's this?_' She closed her eyes and tried to search a little deeper for his presence. '_His spirit is gone..._' Soon after she realized that, Goldva re-entered the room, back from the meeting with the Great Spirit.

"What did the Great Spirit say?" Rutherfor asked.

"It said to keep him in the village for the time being. No one else is to know that he is here. Since that is his decision, it must be done." Goldva replied.

Ruterfor nodded in understanding. "Um, Goldva, there's one other thing I have to say. I can't find his spirit... It's gone."

"What? How is that possible? He's still alive. Whenever a spirit leaves it's body, the body dies, simple as that. How could Yoh's spirit manage to leave it's body while keeping it alive?" Goldva whispered, her tone filled with shock and confusion.

Since the Great spirit said that no one else was to know that Yoh was at the village, they couldn't exactly ask another person's opinion on the matter, so they decided to put it out of mind for the time being. Rutherfor was assigned to watch over Yoh until he woke up. She looked like she was about to protest but, after receiving a glare from Goldva, simply nodded and sat down. She pulled a magazine out of her bag and stayed in the room with Yoh while Goldva returned to her duties as head of the shaman council.

XxX (the next morning)

To say that Anna was beginning to worry would be an understatement, she was on the verge of freaking out. Yoh was _never_ gone this long, even when he was slacking off, he would still be back by ten. She sent Amidamaru and a team of several other spirit's out to look for him hours ago, when they finally came back, there was no news of him, not even a trace.

All of the spirits at the cemetery said that they sensed a feeling of foreboding come close, meaning that no one was there last night to know what happened. She found Ren and dragged him back to her house to not-so-politely ask if he had seen Yoh. Unfortunately, Ren hadn't seen or heard from him since the incident where Yoh rescued him from his father's house. Horohoro was with Ren the whole time and he didn't know anything either.

As the days went on, the shaman fight continued with still no sign of Yoh. Strangely enough, his name was never called, not even when the first round had had ended. Anna insisted -as in threatening them until they agreed- on going with them to Pache village for the second round. Since Anna was going, Manta ended up coming also. They were both wondering where Yoh had gone, it wasn't like he could just disappear... Could he?

XxX

Nox: I'm in this story?

Me: Kind of.

Nox: Hm? At least I'm actually in character this time. How do you get your own character out of character anyway?

Me: I hadn't decided yet what your personality was going to be like when I put you in those two other stories.

Nox: Oh.

Me: Please review.


	2. Into the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

'_thoughts / flashbacks_'

XxX

As the memory of the lullaby began to fade, a searing pain coursed through Yoh's skull, forcing him to wake up from his spell-induced sleep.

"Urk... What happened?" He mumbled.

He staggered slightly as he got to his feet, the memories of what happened the day before suddenly rushing back to him in another wave of dizziness. '_Why does my head hurt so much when I think about it?_' Yoh thought faintly. He winced before looking around, searching for anything that could tell him where he was, or _when_ he was. The thought of time travel was really confusing, especially the way Nox had so briefly explained it.

To his left was a small shrine with two stone fox statues at the entrance, one of which had a few cracks in it, but both looked fairly well kept. To his right was a dark forest with rope railing on both sides of a path leading in. In front of him were hundreds of of odd-looking tombstones, each had a name engraved in kanji he wasn't quite familiar with. Well, at least he knew he was in a graveyard.

When he looked down, he noticed that he had changed clothes as well. The white shirt and blue jeans he had been wearing before had been replaced by a dark blue kimono with faded pink sakura patterns at the end. His sandals had been switched to a pair of rice straw zōri and his hair had been tied back into a ponytail. Although, the most uncomfortable change he found was that his boxers had been replaced by a fundoshi.

'_It looks like I really am back in the past..._'

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. How did he get there and what time was he in? He wasn't even sure when he could get back to his time. He shuddered at the thought of what Anna's reaction would be when she realized that he was gone. She'd be pissed beyond belief. He wouldn't be surprised if, when he got back, she'd quadruple his training for the next month or longer longer if she didn't kill him first.

Yoh quickly pushed thoughts out of mind and began to walk around. As he walked by an old path, a small movement in the distance caught his gaze.

'_Huh? What was that?_' Yoh thought as he focused his sight towards the area.

Upon further observation, he realized that the 'thing' he saw move was actually a person. The person was walking away from one of the graves and heading off to who knows where. Not knowing what else to do, Yoh decided to follow the person. It didn't take long before the stranger stopped, pausing after seeing someone else on the road, a friend, judging by the way that they spoke.

As he listened to some of the recent events that they mentioned, Yoh was able to figure out that he was somewhere in Heian period. He was near Tokyo as it was a thousand years into the past. '_...I never thought I'd say this, but thank the great spirit I actually payed attention in history class. Many of the customs of this time are different than they are in the present, so I'll have to be careful. If I say the wrong thing to the wrong person, I could get killed._' Yoh thought.

With that in mind, he continued walking down the nearest path until eventually reaching a small village. Shortly after entering, he accidentally bumped into an older woman, possibly in her late forties to early sixties. The only building nearby was the onsen, so he figured that she'd come from there. She was pretty and kind of reminded him of Anna in a way. After remembering that he'd run into her, he quickly apologized. After checking to see if she was alright, he tried to continue on his way, but the woman stopped him before he had the chance.

"Excuse me, mind if I ask where you might be going?" The woman asked curiously.

"I'm looking for a place to work." Yoh said as he turned to face the strange woman.

"Why? Shouldn't you be in school or back at home with your family?" The woman asked, genuine concern laced her voice.

"I was separated from my family and I can't return to them. I am on my own and not sure of what else to do other than get a job." Yoh replied simply. It wasn't a lie, the whole story was just longer and not all that believable, so he simplified it.

"I see... come with me. I know of a place that you can work." The woman said with a smile.

"T-thank you." Yoh said.

He was taken by surprise when she suddenly took his wrist and began leading him back to the onsen.

"Don't thank me yet, working at an onsen is much harder than it seems. Oh, I almost forgot to ask. What is your name?" The woman asked as she stopped at the entrance of the onsen.

"My name is Yoh." Yoh replied sheepishly.

"Last name?" The woman asked as she let go of his hand.

"Wakarimasen." Yoh shifted his gaze slightly, not wanting to look at her directly. Now that was a lie. He didn't like lying, but he wasn't sure whether or not the Asakura's even existed in this time period. Perhaps they did exist and were an important family. Either way, he wasn't even born yet in this time period, so it wouldn't really matter if they existed or not.

'_He must be a peasant's child, it would certainly explain a lot..._' The woman thought while looking over Yoh's worn and dirty appearance.

"I see. My name is Yumi Saito, but you will call me Saito-sama. I am the owner of the onsen's wife. Until you earn enough to get your own house, you will be allowed to stay at the inn. I will teach you how to do everything on your first day but after that you are on your own. I hope for your sake that you are a fast learner. We do not have many employees at the moment and you will have to work hard because of that. It will not be easy and I hope that you are prepared. Once you get dressed in the onsen uniform, you will begin your work immediately." Saito explained while pushing Yoh into a small employee room.

Once Yoh was dressed in the onsen kimono and put his own clothing away, she began instructing him on how to work in the onsen. She had to slap him with one of her sandals to wake him up when he fell asleep in the middle of one of her explanations and after a very explicit threat on what exactly she would do to him if he ever tried slacking again, he stopped dosing off.

She really reminded him of Anna and because of this and he didn't want to find out if she actually intended to go through with her threat. When the day was finally over, Saito called an employee meeting. She played with her light brown hair while waiting until everyone was there, taking partial interest in the ribbon that was tied at the end.

"As a few of you have already noticed, we have a new employee. His name is Yoh. I hope you all will be kind to him. You may need to be a bit patient while teaching him something though, he has a tendency to slack-off which needs to be fixed." Yoh scratched the back of his neck nervously as all of the employees turned to look at him.

"In addition, I will be gone tomorrow and will not be returning for a while. I will be going with my husband to visit some of the other onsens that he owns and I will only be able to return in six months. I'll see you all then." Saito smiled at everyone before walking out the door.

The room was silent for a moment after she left. Unfortunately, the small moment of peace didn't last long. Soon, all of the employees began bombarding Yoh with questions. Most of the things the were asking him were : How well to get along with other people? Are you sure that you can actually work here? Where are you from? Luckily for him, one of the employees yelled that it was after closing time. After hearing that, everyone else promptly forgot about him and left the onsen to head home.

Yoh walked back to the room that Saito-sama had assigned him and carefully opened the door. He smiled when he saw what it looked like on the inside. It was almost like his room back home. The room itself was fairly empty but it had a home-like feeling to it. He momentarily wondered if that might be the reason why the onsen seemed so popular.

As he laid down on the futon, he thought about how hectic the day had been. One moment he was talking to someone on funbari hill and the next he was working at an onsen in the Heian period. He didn't know what he was supposed to see in this time, but maybe if he waited long enough, whatever it was would come to him.

xXx

Me: Please review.


	3. Who are You?

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

'_thoughts / flashbacks_'

xXx

The next day, the head employee introduced herself to him. Her name was Aiko and much to his relief, she wasn't anywhere near as scary as Saito-sama. However, she still made sure that work got done around the onsen. Yoh was usually the one who got stuck with all of the hard-to-handle guests because of his calm and easygoing nature. No one ever seemed to stay mad or displeased for long while he was around.

Today, he was assigned to clean out the baths. They weren't as unpleasant to clean as the bathrooms, but still fairly unpleasant. He realized soon after he had started working that most kids his age were working as delivery boys or apprentices, so it was a little strange for others to see him working there.

The longer he worked at the onsen, the more he learned about the era that he was in. It seemed that being able to see spirits usually led to extreme discrimination, even more so than during his own time. Some people even believed that if you could see spirits and weren't a monk or onmyouji, you were a demon yourself. Many who were able to see spirits were killed because of this, so he was especially careful not to let the others know.

Working at the onsen was hard and he often paused to wonder why he even came to past in the first place. During one of the times he thought about it, he realized something that he hadn't previously thought of, he didn't know how to get back. The thought probably should have worried him a bit more, but all thoughts seemed to vanish as Aiko walked up to him. She gave him a list of things to get at the store before returning to her duties.

'_Working at the Onsen isn't so bad._' Yoh thought while walking down the busy street. It was fairly nice outside, the glistening sun warmed the slight breeze and the clouds kept the air from getting too hot. Days like this he really enjoyed. He saw the store which he was supposed to go and started to head off in that direction, but the sound of people shouting made him pause.

A feeling of unease made him shudder as he ran over to see what was happening. When he finally reached the place where the commotion was taking place, he was horrified at what he saw. Some strong looking men, possibly fishermen or farmers, were throwing rocks at a young boy, treating it like some sort of cruel game. The boy was shivering in fear and looked like he was on the verge of tears as one of the men came closer with a big rock in hand.

"Stop! You're hurting him." Yoh yelled as he ran out in front of the man.

"Why should I care? I watched as they burned his house to the ground, taking the demon fox down with it. He's a demon's child, so what does it matter?" One of the men barked.

"He's helpless and your attacking him. Regardless of what _he_ is, _you're_ the ones who look like demons to me." Yoh snapped, eyes flaring with anger as he looked up at the guy.

"**Teme.**" The man growled, clenching his fists in anger.

The man slammed his fist into the side of Yoh's cheek. Yoh winced, but despite the pain he felt from the hit, he didn't move an inch from the impact. Refusing to step aside and risk the boy getting hurt, he merely clenched his jaw and glared at the guy, who was pulling his fist back to hit him again. He had no intention of fighting back, mainly because he didn't know what trouble it would cause later, but he wasn't going to let the kid get hurt either. Luckily for him, the man's companions stopped him before the second hit made contact.

"Come on, that's enough. He's just an ignorant brat, let it go. You're a better man than to get in a fight with a brat over something so trivial. He'll probably get cursed by the kid anyway." One guy said.

"Humph, your right, fighting with him isn't worth my time." The man sneered before following his companions elsewhere.

Once the three men had left, everyone else went back to what they were doing. They acted like scene they had just witnesses had never even happened, which annoyed Yoh quite a bit. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that, so he just sighed and he turned to look at the injured boy.

The kid looked only about six years old. He had fairly long dark brown hair and he was covered in injuries, more than what those men had done. His tattered yutaka and the awful shape the wounds were in indicated that he didn't have anyone to care for him. When Yoh reached out to touch one of the cuts, he backed away, looking up at the elder with fearful eyes.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you. You should try to be a bit more careful too, not many can understand what it must be like for someone like you." Yoh said with a sad smile.

"What's your name?" The boy asked quietly.

"Yoh. And you?" Yoh replied.

"Asaha Douji, the demon's son." Asaha said before turning to leave.

"...Asaha, I may not know much about you, but I do know this, you are not a demon." Yoh said softly.

Asaha flinched and turned back to look at Yoh, who now wore a carefree smile on his face. Asaha watched quietly as Yoh left, wondering why he was so calm when he said those words...

Yoh, on the other hand, quickly ran to the store. With all that happened earlier, he completely forgot about getting the supplies. Even though Aiko wasn't as scary as Saito-sama, she still could get pretty scary when she was mad. She was also in a very bad mood today and Yoh didn't want to be the one on the receiving end of her rage.

XxX (present time)

After three months, Anna had finally come to terms with the fact that Yoh probably wasn't coming back. There had been no word from him since he disappeared and she found it most likely that Yoh had been taken out by another tournament participant. Although, Amidamaru still wasn't ready to give up yet, he had decided to stay around until the shaman tournament was over or it was certain that Yoh wouldn't return.

Anna, Horohoro, Ren, Jun, Ryu, Manta, and Faust were all currently looking for a way to the Patch village. Two months ago, the Patch plane dropped all of the tournament participants in the middle of the dessert. Goldva said that they had exactly three months two find the village or else they would be disqualified. Naturally, no one was thrilled with this announcement, but they didn't really have any other choice than to put up with it.

After several more weeks of searching, they finally found a hint to the Pache village's whereabouts. They followed a shaman named Lyserg, who had the ability to track the furyoku of other shaman. Lyserg led the way through about half the trip and they ran into several troublesome shaman several times along the way. A shaman called Chocolove joined their group shortly after they met him, he was an awful comedian in everyone's opinion, but he had ways of getting information, so Anna let him join.

The group called the X-Laws was the most irritating group in Anna's opinion, if Yoh would have been there, he definitely wouldn't have liked them. As they traveled through a red canyon, they ran into the X-Laws again. Unfortunately for everyone, Joco made a really bad joke about Yoh earlier that day and now Anna was in a really, really bad mood.

Anna shoved everyone else out of her way before walking up to Marco and growling: "Get out of our way."

"We are here to give you the chance to join us and help you see the light." Marco said with the same monotonic tone.

"You know, I kinda hope Hao kicks your ass soon. I hope he lights your head on fire. At least then you'll have some reason for that hot headed personality of yours." Anna snapped.

Marco looked a bit ticked-off at the comment, but he tried not to show it. He merely fixed his glasses and looked at everyone else. Then, he gave a rather long speech on their version of justice. During which, Ren actually had to hold Anna back so that she didn't strangle Marco and make a scene. Although, despite holding her back, he personally would have loved to watch Anna beat the crap out of the guy.

When the speech was finally over, Lyserg stepped forward and began walking over to the X-Laws. Marco was smiled with content from getting one person to join and then walked away with the new member of the X-Laws. Once the X-Laws had left, Anna continued walking and acted as though they had never appeared and gave anyone who tried mentioning Lyserg a death glare.

Quickly trying to put the X-Laws out of mind, Amidamaru said that he had felt a strange presence in the south. Luckily, Anna decided to trust his instincts and began walking south. Everyone had learned to do as Anna said and pretty much keep their mouths shut whenever she was in a bad mood. May the great spirit help them if they didn't find Pache village soon.

XxX

Me: Please review.


	4. The Week Vacation

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

XxX (one year later)

"Yoh, you have been working hard for the past year and I think you deserve a break. Starting today you will get a one week vacation." Aiko said with a pleasant smile.

"What?" Yoh was completely taken by surprise at the sudden statement.

"You heard me. One week vacation, starts today. Hope you enjoy it because it'll be another year before you get another one." Aiko said as she swiftly pushed him out the door and went back to her duties.

Yoh stared at the closed door in silence for a few moments, still trying to register what just happened. Eventually his mind caught up with him and he was able to understand. He had the next week off of work. Even in all of his time spent with Anna, she never once gave him a break this long. Yoh smiled and walked off towards a small forest path. He wasn't sure what he was going to do for the week yet, but he didn't really care, he was just happy that he had a break.

The path that he walked on was old and hardly traveled through anymore, but it was a relaxing walk. No one lived out here. The village was a little ways away from the forest, but that was one of the things that Yoh loved most about it. The sunlight shined on a nearby lake, drawing him towards the watery surface. He looked down at his reflection and smiled lightly.

His appearance hadn't changed much since the day he arrived, but no one else seemed to notice. About a week after he first started working at the onsen, he started putting his hair back, but that was pretty much the only change. After he was done checking over his reflection in the lake, he began to look around. He had walked down the path many times in the past, but he had never explored, he'd never had the time before.

As he looked around, he saw a few other worn out paths. After choosing one path, he walked until he came across old and abandoned looking house. He could sense a few spirits within it, so he walked a little closer to check it out. He was a little surprised when he saw someone pacing outside the front door, mumbling darkly about the house. The man didn't seem like one who would normally be out in the forest, he looked more like a businessman.

"Is something wrong?" Yoh asked.

"_Sigh_... Yes, but I doubt that you would be able to help, kid." The man replied as he stared sadly at the house.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. You'll never know until you ask." Yoh said with a care free smile.

"I guess there's no harm in saying. You see, a lot of folks say that this house is haunted and no mater how many times I try to get this place cleansed by monks, the spirits keep coming back. My boss told me to get rid of this place, but it would cost too much to tear it down and no one wants to buy the property. I've even lowered the price for the buyout to 5,000 yen." The man explained while looking at Yoh.

Yoh stared at the house for a few moments before looking back at the man. "I'll buy it."

"What? Did you not hear what I just said about it being haunted?" The man asked, finally recovering from his previous breakdown.

"I don't think that I'll actually be able to live in it, but I'm sure that I could find some use for it." Yoh replied while trying not to be crushed in a hug from the overly happy businessman.

Yoh handed over the yen and the man gave him the documents to the house before walking off much happier than before. Yoh sighed and looked at the house, it looked pretty nice but it was too far away from the onsen for him to live there. He walked inside and called all of the spirits out. The spirits were a lot more harmless than what he had expected after hearing the businessman's story, it was just a family who died an accident few years ago.

The spirits told him that they couldn't rest in piece until they found the spirit of their lost dog. After that, Yoh spent the rest of the day searching the forest until he finally found the dog and the family was able to pass on. Since it was late and he didn't have work for the next week, he didn't see any harm in staying in the house for the night. He went to the store to buy some things and then went back, pulled out an old futon, and quickly fell asleep.

XxX

Yoh enjoyed the feeling of waking up late the next morning. It had been a whole year since he was last able to wake up late, even though he would get in trouble with Anna for doing it, sometimes it was worth it. Now that he was thinking about the subject, he started wondering how much time had past in the world of the present. It could be anywhere from a second to a year or maybe even longer.

Yoh sighed, thinking about things which he couldn't do anything about only confused him. Instead, he decided to think about other things like... What was he going to do for the remaining six days that he had off of work? As he was pondering on what to do, his stomach growled.

'_I guess I better go get something to eat first._' Yoh thought as he got out of bed. He put on his clothes and combed through his hair before walking out out the door and heading back towards the village. He got something simple to eat and started walking around the village. He saw a few samurai walk down the road and had to suppress a groan at the sight of them. Although he didn't recognize them, he instantly knew their type.

There were some truly noble samurai in this time, like Amidamaru had been during his life, but there were also some samurai that were total jerks, these guys were the jerks. Despite how most people hated them, they were still shown respect out of fear, the law stated that if you showed a samurai disrespect... he could kill you at will. Yoh had intended to just bow and keep his head down as they passed, but froze when he heard one of the samurai curse at someone.

Yoh looked over towards the samurai and, to his surprise, saw someone who he recognized, Asaha. One of the samurai had run into Asaha and knocked him over, but he was now blaming Asaha for being in his way. Not noticing that the samurai had begun to draw his sword, Asaha slowly stood up. The samurai looked intent on killing the poor kid for simply being unfortunate enough as to have met him. Like hell Yoh was just going to sit back and watch that happen.

"Sumimasen!" Yoh called as he ran over to the samurai, startling the one who had just drawn his sword.

"What?" The Samurai growled, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for Yoh's explanation.

Once Yoh reached where the samurai were, he gave them a very low bow and pushed Asaha's head down into a low bow as well.

"I deeply apologize for this inconvenience. It is my fault for letting him out of my sight, he is my little brother. He rarely gets to go out into the village and I'm sure that he is very sorry for getting in your way. Please forgive us, Samurai-sama!" Yoh pleaded, thanking the Great Spirit that Asaha had gone quiet from shock.

"Humph. Fine, but know this. I'm going to be in this village for the next three days and if I see that little brother of yours in the village at any time during those three days, he's dead and so are you. Got it?" The Samurai asked, giving Yoh's neck a small cut with his sword to prove his point.

"Yes, o great Samurai-sama." Yoh replied lowering his bow as he spoke.

The samurai seemed content with his answer and turned to leave along with his companion. Once they were far enough away, Yoh started walking back to the forest, pulling Asaha along with him. The chatter of the other villagers went unheard as he raced into to forest and ran toward his house. After quickly pulling Asaha inside, he looked out the window, relieved to see that the samurai had not followed them.

When he looked back inside, he found the confused expression on Asaha's face as no surprise. Samurai rarely came through the village and the kid probably wouldn't have been expecting them, even if he had known about them, he wouldn't have understood why they acted like that. Thinking that the boy might be thirsty, he went into the kitchen and made some tea for the two of them. Once the tea was done, he walked over to the table and motioned for Asaha to come sit down.

"What just happened?" Asaha asked as Yoh poured him a cup of tea.

"I'm not quite sure I understand. Could you try to be a little more specific?" Yoh replied with a carefree smile.

"Why did he try to kill me? He didn't call me a demon. I don't think it was because of that. So, why?" Asaha mumbled, staring at the tea like it was completely foreign to him.

Yoh let out a deep sigh, knowing that it was going to be hard to explain.

"Firstly I should tell you a little about samurai. There are some samurai who are truly noble and follow the orders of their lord without question. They usually ignore, if not be kind, to those lower than them. The _other_ samurai are dreadful, they let the power that they have received go to their heads. _Those_ samurai also follow their orders but treat everyone lower than them like trash. Those two samurai that you met today were of the _other_ samurai. Samurai are allowed to kill anyone who they think has showed them disrespect and that samurai viewed you as being disrespectful to him." Yoh explained.

"But I didn't do anything!" Asaha said quickly.

"I know," Yoh added quietly, "that's just how _those_ samurai are."

"If anyone who showed the samurai disrespect is killed, then why did you save me? You could have been killed." Asaha bit his lip lightly he looked up at Yoh, still unsure of what he thought of the older boy.

"Because it wasn't your fault and there was a chance that I could save you."

Yoh smiled at him before continuing. "Unfortunately, the samurai said that he would kill you if he saw you again within the next three days. One thing most samurai are known for is their honesty. You can stay here with me for that time if you want though."

"You'd really let me stay? Even though I'm a monster?" Asaha asked quietly.

"Of course you can stay. I'll be here for the next five days but after that I probably won't come back. I work at an onsen that's a little ways away from here. This place is too far from it for me to live here. Oh, and you are not a monster, I already told you this once before. Although, you might start looking like one if you don't take a bath." Yoh said thoughtfully.

Asaha's eyes became as wide as saucers, looking up at Yoh with a mix of confusion, fear, and childish pout. "A bath? I don't _want_ to take a bath!"Asaha screeched, quickly turning around and trying to make a break for the hallway. Yoh grabbed his hand the moment he got out of the living room.

"If you're going to stay, then you _have_ to take one." Yoh said as he started walking towards the bath.

"No!" Asaha yelled as he struggled against Yoh's grip. Asaha's eyes widened even more, if possible, as they came closer to the door.

"I'll only take a bath if you take one with me. If I have to be tortured by taking one, then so will you!" Asaha said as Yoh pulled him inside the room.

"If that's what it takes to get you to take one, then it's fine with me." Yoh replied as the two of them got in the water.

Asaha pouted the entire time that they were in the bath, yet didn't try to leave until Yoh said it was ok. Once the bath was over, Yoh pulled out a second futon for Asaha to sleep on. Asaha looked a little confused at first, not really being used to staying with others, but seemed to get the picture when Yoh motioned for him to come over. He walked over to the futon which was laid out for him and lied down on it. In no time at all, he was fast asleep.

For some reason, Yoh had the strangest feeling that he'd enjoy these next few days with Asaha. He liked being around the kid. Maybe it was their slight resemblance or how Asaha's life seemed similar to how his was as a child, but being around him made him happy. As he closed his eyes, he wondered if these next three days would be like living with the little brother he never had.

XxX

Me: So cute! *hugs Asaha*

Asaha: '_I don't remember her in my story._'

Ren: Welcome to fanfiction.

Asaha: ?

Ren: Just be sure to avoid the M stories and you'll be fine.

Asaha: *immediately searches for M stories* O.o *faints*

Ren: *shrugs* I warned him.

Me: Please review.


	5. Night of Fireflies

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

xXx

When Yoh woke up the next morning, he was a little surprised to see Asaha clinging on to him like a little kitten. He got up carefully as not to wake the younger and managed to slip out of the room without being heard. After putting on his zōri, he went to the village to get a few things. He ended up staying out a little later than expected, by the time he finally got home, it was already time for lunch. When he opened the door, he found Asaha waiting for him.

"You're back." Asaha said happily. Yoh smiled at Asaha as he headed to the kitchen to make lunch.

At one point, Asaha came in and offered to help. Yoh was a little hesitant at first, but after a cute pleading look from Asaha, he gave him something to do. He asked Asaha to watch the fire and tell him when the fish looked good to eat. Fifteen minutes later, Asaha walked over to him and told him that the fish were ready. Lunch was done shortly after that. A little after they started eating, Yoh noticed Asaha staring at him.

"Is something wrong?" Yoh asked as he bit down into another piece of fish.

"I was wondering what mother would think of you." Asaha mumbled. "You're not a thing like her, but I think that you two would have gotten along well."

"What was she like?" Yoh asked, after finishing the last of the meal.

"She was kind. Although, she didn't hesitate to slap someone if they needed it." Asaha smiled slightly as he touched his cheek, remembering one of the times that he felt her slap.

"She loved me and cared for many. She was nice, but people were afraid... She was a fox... She could speak to them, the spirits, the demons. They said she was a evil, a demon..." Asaha blinked as he tried to push back the tears that had begun to form. "They burned the house, with her inside. The flames... th-they were awful. I- I think I heard her scream, but I couldn't help... The fire... I couldn't even get close."

Yoh slowly crawled over to him. Once he was close enough, he pulled Asaha into a warm embrace. It startled the boy at first, but then he snuggled closer and began to cry. Yoh whispered words to soothe him, but he didn't say anything else. He knew that right now, Asaha just needed to let out his emotions. Briefly, he wondered how long Asaha had been alone after his mother's death. He wondered why no one had tried to help before him. He wondered... What would happen to Asaha after he left?

He didn't want to think about that now, so he closed his eyes and held Asaha closer. Once the sound of crying had ceased, Yoh looked down at Asaha. His eyes were still wet from the tears, but it looked as though he was starting to calm down. Yoh wanted to do something for him, something that Asaha would remember and think back to whenever he felt sad. Something that would make him happy, a memory that he'd never forget.

"Ne, Asaha, would you like to go on a walk with me?" Yoh whispered.

"Sure... but we can't go to the village. One of the samurai might see me. So, where would we go?" Asaha mumbled.

"I've got an idea." Yoh said as he got to his feet, carefully helping Asaha up also.

"Where?" Asaha asked curiously.

Yoh smiled mischievously. "Himitsu~"

Asaha pouted.

Yoh smiled as he took Asaha's hand and walked out of the house. It was about three pm at the moment and it would take roughly two hours to walk there. By the time they would arrive, it would be about sunset, the best time to see the view.

A cool breeze whispered to the rustling leaves, creating a natural symphony. There were a few nature spirits hiding amongst the bushes, eyes focused on the two of them. Yoh could tell that Asaha was unnerved by the spirits presence, probably because it was the first time since his mother's death that he was near spirits while in another person's presence.

Yoh suddenly slowed down when he realized that Asaha was falling behind. They had been walking for an hour already and the kid looked exhausted. Two ideas suddenly came to mind, causing the corners of Yoh's mouth to twist into a cheerful grin. He came to an abrupt stop and knelt down to Asaha's height. The cute confused look he received from Asaha was priceless. He wished he could have taken a picture, it was adorable.

"Are you tired?" Yoh asked softly.

"A little..." Asaha replied, unsure of what to think about Yoh's question.

"Then hop on." Yoh said.

Asaha looked at him like he had suddenly grown a second head or something before glancing warily at his back.

"I won't carry you for too long if you don't want me to, but at least this way you can get some rest." Yoh said simply.

After a few more moments hesitation, Asaha slowly climbed onto Yoh's back. He had never been given a piggyback ride before, so it was really strange at first, especially when Yoh started walking again. Asaha's eyes widened and he clung onto Yoh's neck like his life depended on it.

"I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall!" Asaha yelled.

"You're not going to fall, but if you do, then I'll catch you. Alright?" Yoh chuckled.

"Promise you'll catch me?" Asaha mumbled.

"As long as I'm here, I'll catch you if you fall."

Asaha smiled and loosened his hold just a little. After a while, having Yoh carrying him started to feel a lot less scary and a lot more relaxing. If he listened carefully, he could hear Yoh's heartbeat. The warmth of Yoh's presence mixed with the cool forest breeze was rather pleasant. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so at ease, but he had forgotten what a nice feeling it was.

Shortly after that, another feeling began to creep its way into his mind. The feeling that he wanted something, something he knew he couldn't have. He wanted to stay with Yoh. No one else had been so nice to him, everyone else had just called him a demon's child and treated him like vermin. Yoh treated him like a brother, something unfamiliar to him. He wanted to stay with Yoh forever... but he knew that wasn't possible. Life was too cruel to let that happen.

The sun was beginning to set and Yoh could tell that they were drawing nearer to the special place. He carefully slipped Asaha off of his back and started walking together again. Asaha's eyes were lowered and his lips were quirked into a frown. It hurt to see Asaha so sad all the sudden, especially when he looked so happy just a moment ago. Yoh hoped that going to the place would help Asaha feel better again. When saw how close they were he let go of Asaha's hand and ran over to one of the bushes, silently motioning for Asaha to follow.

"Yoh. Where are we going?" Asaha whined.

"Shh. We're almost there. You'll see in just a moment." Yoh called, diving into another bush and vanishing from Asaha's sight.

Asaha frowned and slowed down into a walk as he came closer to the bush where Yoh disappeared. The branches scratched at his skin as he crawled through the opening. He could hear Yoh's voice up ahead along with a few other voices as well. He could hear laughter, but the voices were a little strange somehow. He hesitated as he reached the exit. Inhale... Exhale... Then, with one more breath, he pushed his way into the clearing.

Asaha was completely stunned at what stood before him. There Yoh stood, in the middle of the field, surrounded by spirits and fireflies, all of which seemed to be trying to light the sky with their mesmerizing glow. A huge sakura tree stood behind them in full bloom, it's petals reflecting the light of the sunset and it's bark glowing from the fireflies light.

The sunset painted the sky in colors that he'd believed to exist only in dreams. The light reflected off the clouds, grass, and the trees, causing everything to be illuminated in the light of the setting sun. The spirits laughed and sang, treating it like a party to the end the day. Some of the spirits stopped to greet him and Yoh, speaking as if they were old friends. The demons dancing in the field made the scene seem even more surreal.

"Welcome to my special place, Asaha." Yoh said cheerfully.

"Y-You can talk to them? The demons, the spirits?" Asaha gasped.

"That's right, they're my friends." Yoh chuckled.

"Then... Are you a fox to?" Asaha asked hesitantly.

Yoh sighed and shook his head no. "I'm just as much of a fox as your mother was."

Yoh's answer only confused Asaha further. How could Yoh see the demons but not be a fox? And then what did he mean by 'I'm just as much of a fox as your mother was'? It didn't make much sense, so he decided to focus on the view instead. Most of the spirits were in their ball forms, with the exception of a few animal spirits. It looked like dozens of ghostly lanterns were just waiting for the night.

When the sun set and the stars began to shine, the sight became even more breathtaking than before. He barley noticed when Yoh sat next to him against the tree, he was too mesmerized by looking up at the countless number of stars above. The clouds had vanished with the sun, leaving nothing to obscure the night, both the stars and the moon both shone brightly in the sky. A single shooting star danced across the sky, reminding Asaha of something his mother once told him.

Quickly, he closed his eyes and made a wish. '_Great spirit.. if I could have just one wish... I would wish..._'

After most of the spirits had gone and the fireflies had flown away, Yoh glanced back over at Asaha. The kid was fast asleep, snuggling against his arm. Slowly, he got to his feet, being careful not to wake Asaha, and then picked him up and carried him back to the house. He gently laid Asaha down on the futon and pulled the blanket over him. Yoh smiled softly at the boy before walking over to his own futon and lying down. Today was a long, tiring day. It didn't take long for him to close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

xXx

Me: please review.


	6. A Song for Parting

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

xXx

The next day was the last that the samurai would be in the village. Asaha woke up early that day. Before going to wake Yoh up, he wanted to get a better look at him. Last night, Yoh said that he wasn't a fox. It was true that he certainly _looked_ human, but weren't all foxes supposed to when they changed? He hadn't heard to many things fox demons, but he knew that they were supposed to be pretty in human form and could talk to demons.

So, was Yoh a fox or not? Then again, it didn't really matter to him if Yoh was. Yoh was Yoh. It didn't matter if he was fox, human, or even demon, Asaha liked him regardless. After finishing that thought, he finally woke Yoh up.

XxX

Yoh left to go the store shortly after getting dressed. He wanted to get something special for Asaha today. He noticed that Asaha seemed a little upset and he was pretty sure that he knew why. Since the samurai would be leaving today, there would also be no reason for Asaha to stay. Tomorrow, he would have to tell Asaha goodbye and then go back to his job at the onsen.

Yoh couldn't stay with him at the house because it was too far from his work and he probably wouldn't see him much afterward. Knowing this, Yoh wanted to get him a gift before he left. As he walked around the village, he ran into a merchant selling strange fruits. He recognized most of them and was overjoyed when he saw the one that he had been looking for.

He got three of the fruits and headed back to the house. On his way back, he overheard that the samurai had already gone to another village for some sort of meeting. He smiled, knowing they were finally gone was a big relief. When he opened the door, he saw Asaha sitting at the table waiting for him. He had been gone most of the day, so it was fairly late when he returned. He made dinner quickly before sitting at the table to eat.

"Asaha, while I was in town today I heard that those samurai were gone. I also got you something while I was out." Yoh said with a smile as he handed Asaha the the cloth.

Asaha looked a little puzzled upon receiving the gift, but soon unwrapped the cloth to see what was inside. Inside held five items, three strange looking fruit, a shinobue flute, and all were wrapped in a small white kimono. He looked up at Yoh questioningly, holding up one of the strange fruits. Yoh took the fruit and cut it in half, then he returned it to Asaha, who's eyes lit up upon registering what it looked like.

"It's called a star fruit and they grow on another island a little ways away. I think that the kimono might be a bit big on you, I wasn't exactly sure of your size. I don't know if you like music, but I thought the flute would be something you enjoyed. It's been a year since I last saw you and I figured that you're probably seven by now, so, think of it as a late birthday present. " Yoh said sheepishly.

"Thanks." Asaha said as he took a bite out of the fruit. "Amazing! This is great."

"You like it then?" Yoh asked, though the answer was obvious by the look on Asaha's face.

"Yup. I'm not sure how to play the shinobue though... Would you play me a song?" Asaha asked as he stared at the instrument.

"I'm not that great at playing instruments, but some of the girls at the onsen taught me how to play this one. Here is a song that I thought of shortly after learning how to play." Yoh said as he began playing the shinobue.

The song that he played came out a lot better that what he had expected. The tune was slow but measured and it had a very relaxing feeling to it. The notes became slower at the song went on and it steadily became a bit wistful but it still managed to somehow keep the soothing feeling that it began with. In the final stage of the song, the pace grew a little faster and the tune gained more of a peaceful and happy feeling. The song ended on two long notes.

"What's the name of the song?" Asaha asked, once he realized that the song was over.

"Second time." Yoh replied as he handed Asaha the shinobue.

After playing a few games with Asaha to pass the time, Yoh started to feel a little tired, so he went to bed early. When he woke up the next morning, Asaha had already left. He was a little sad that Asaha had gone, but he also knew that it had to happen eventually. As he got out of bed, he noticed that his hand seemed a little strange, so he looked down to check.

'_So this is how I'm going to leave then? It's only started after a year so I'm guessing that I have a bit more time before it's time to leave._' Yoh thought as he stared at his hand, which became almost completely transparent for a moment before returning to normal.

The next three days passed pretty quickly and soon he went back to working at the onsen like usual.

XxX (three years later)

Yoh quickly ran down street as he headed towards the onsen, he had slept in and was now very late. He had gotten his own house seven months ago and lately he had been finding it harder to wake up in the mornings. Today was the day that Saito-sama came back to the onsen to check in on its progress along with her husband. He remembered when he met Saito-sama four years ago and wondered how different her visit would be this time.

Everyone was trying to make the onsen look especially beautiful today because she was coming. Saito-sama had visited seven times before, but this was the first time that she was bringing her husband with her. Aiko was having a complete mental breakdown from the stress, but Yoh managed to snap her out of it in less than ten minutes. After that,Yoh worked on preparing the rooms while everyone else worked together on making the onsen spotless.

They all finished exactly one minute before they were supposed to arrive. Now, all of them rushed to form a line bordering the front doors. Once everyone had gotten in line, the doors flew open and a young man entered. The room was filled with quiet chatter as they all wondered what was going on. The man looked to be about 23, he was too young to be Saito-sama's husband.

"To all of the employees at the onsen," The man began, "I bring you bad news. My name is Kei Saito, son of Yumi and Roku Saito. Two days ago, on their way to this onsen, my parents were killed in an unfortunate accident, leaving me the new owner of this onsen. If anyone wishes to quit working here because of the change in management, I will have no problem with that. I know how inspiring my mother must have been to you all and I understand if you want to leave now that she is no longer here." Kei paused for a moment before continuing.

"I will try my best to match my mothers example and be as good of a manager as she was. My father was always busy with keeping the family together that he was never able to visit this wonderful onsen and for that I deeply apologize. I hope to be able to work well with those of you who will stay. Those of you who wish to leave, please come forward and I will give you your last payment now." Kei informed, waiting for anyone to come forward.

The room was filled with quiet chatter as they all discussed the news of Yumi's death. After a few moments, Yoh decided to speak up.

"...I'm sorry. I believe that you will indeed make a great manager one day, but to me it's just not the same without Saito-sama. I would like to resign." Yoh said as he slowly walked towards Kei.

Kei nodded in understanding and gave Yoh his last payment, he remained completely silent as Yoh walked out the door. No one else wanted to leave, so the work day continued as though nothing had happened while Yoh walked out of town. He walked through the cold forest until he eventually reached his old house. Once he went inside, he sat down on the middle of the floor and waited.

"_...Why did you leave? Could you see through his trick, or did you truly mean what you said?_"

"I meant what I said, but that is not why I left. I left because I heard you, Saito-sama." Yoh said as he looked up at the startled ghost.

"_Seeing as how I'm dead now, I see no reason to continue with the formalities. Just call me Yumi. Since when have you been able to see spirits, child?_" Yumi asked as she sat down in front of him.

"I have always been able to see them, I was born able. My condolences on your death by the way and I'm sorry that it had to be your son that killed you." Yoh whispered.

"_You have no reason to be sorry... Although, may I stay here? I do not wish to cross over until I know what will become of my onsen. I will also guard this place should you ever leave, that way you will always have a place to return._" Yumi requested, a hint of worry laced her voice.

"You can stay as long as you like, but I will not be staying much longer. It is almost time for me to return to my family. Once I am finished with what I need to do, I will leave and most likely not come back." Yoh stated simply as he opened the front door.

"_Even if you claim that you will not come back, I will still take it upon myself to guard this place until you return, Yoh-kun._" Yumi said with a small smile as Yoh disappeared into the forest.

xXx

The breeze carried the songs of over a thousand avians as Yoh walked through the forest. It sounded both calming and peaceful, the perfect place to find a nice tree to take a nap in. As he passed a small cliff which looked into a clearing, he saw a familiar ten year old playing with a small demon. '_Asaha..._' Yoh thought in surprise.

He sat down on a rock nearby and watched silently as the two of them played. It looked tile the two of them were having fun. The demon somewhat resembled a rabbit with three ears and a small horn on its head. I looked kinda cute in Yoh's opinion. The demon, who was apparently called Ohachiyo, seemed to be having a good time playing with Asaha.

Ohachiyo called Asaha by the name of Mappa for some reason. Yoh figured that it was probably a nickname. He wasn't sure why, but he had the strangest feeling that he should keep watching the two of them. When it was bath time, Mappa struggled as Ohachiyo tried to drag him into the bath. Looks like Mappa still didn't like baths. Yoh chuckled as he recalled the memory of when he had tried to give Asaha a bath three years ago.

The two of them seemed to be pretty good friends. At the end of the day Yoh would leave, but he always came back the next morning. After a few weeks passed, Ohachiyo began teaching Mappa the basics of the oversoul. Asaha was now a shaman. The thought made Yoh happy. Perhaps, now that Mappa was a shaman, he'd be able meet others who were also shaman and make more friends.

'_Urk..._' Yoh clutched his chest as a sudden painful and heavy feeling went through him.

He was beginning to fade once again and it was clearly apparent that he would disappear completely soon. Figuring that the two of them would probably have a pretty happy life together, he got up and started looking for a nice place to be when it was time for him to vanish. After an hour of searching, an earsplitting scream came from the direction of where he last saw Mappa and Ohachiyo. As he ran, he faintly noticed how he was beginning to fade more quickly than before.

When he finally reached the riverbank, he could only watch in horror as Mappa used his oversoul to kill the priest who had murdered his mom. "Chicchai na." Mappa said. After the priest died, Yoh saw how Ohachiyo's spirit was absorbed into Mappa. A few tears fell down Mappa's cheeks as he dropped the medium and walked towards into the forest. Once Mappa passed the tree that Yoh was hiding behind, Yoh decided to speak up.

"_Revenge isn't worth it._" Yoh said suddenly.

"Wha-?" Mappa quickly turned around in surprise. '_Was that Yoh's voice? Where is he?_'

"_You should try forgive others and focus on the life that you have now, it will be much easier for you that way._" Yoh said, his expression soft and lips curved into a sad smile.

"H-huh?" Mappa stuttered as he walked over to the tree.

"_I'm sorry that I couldn't help you. My time is running out more quickly than I thought. Try to remember though, not all people are bad. I believe that everyone's hearts start out in the right place, some just get misguided along the way. I'm happy that I met you in town that day four years ago and I'm even happier that I got to see you again three years ago. I hope you have a good life, Asaha..._" Yoh whispered before fading away completely.

Mappa looked behind the tree where Yoh previously was, but by that time, he was already gone.

'_I could have sworn I heard him..._' Mappa thought sadly.

"Ohachiyo...Yoh..." Mappa whispered as he continued walking. To where you might ask? Not even he knew.

XxX

Me: ［(－ －)］zzzZZZ

Lyserg: ?

Me: *throws pillow*

Lyserg: Wtf?

Me: |_-)

Horohoro: What just happened?

Lyserg: She was sleeping, then she threw her pillow at me and left.

Horohoro: This is going to be one of_ those_ authors notes, isn't it?

Lyserg: What do you mean 'one of _those_ authors notes'?

Horohoro: -_-

Lyserg: ?

Horohoro: (－_├┬┴

Lyserg: Am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on?

Manta: Nope.

Lyserg: Oh.

Manta: Please review.


	7. Yoh's Return

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

XxX

A bright light woke Yoh from his long, spell induced sleep. The moment he opened his eyes, he tried sitting up, only to be pushed back down by a strange girl wearing Pache style clothing.

"Wha- Mph?"

A spoonful of oatmeal suddenly being shoved into his mouth cut off his attempt to ask what was going on before he could finish the first word. His eyes watered slightly as he choked on the food, just barely managing to swallow it. The girl ignored his look of confusion and handed him the bowl of oatmeal before explaining all that happened during the time he slept.

Yoh ate silently as she told him how the first round ended and how everyone had to make it to Pache village on their own for the first test of the second round. She didn't forget to mention how Goldva found him unconscious three years ago and brought him back to the village. She also informed him about how she had been the one to watch over him for three years.

Yoh thanked her as she continued with the explanation. When she had finally finished explaining everything, over an three hours had passed. The girl told him to wait there as she went to go get someone. After she left, Yoh slowly sat up and looked out the window. Pache village looked different than he thought it would. He found himself mesmerized by the sight of the Great Spirit.

"So, you're finally awake I see." Goldva said as she walked in the room, followed by Rutherfor.

"..."

"Ah, dry throat, try drinking some water." Goldva recommended.

Yoh took a drink of water and tried talking again, his voice was a little raspy, but he was able to talk. "Thanks for saving me. Um, am I still in the tournament or have I been disqualified?" Yoh asked trying, and failing, not to show his concern.

"It's been three years since you've been out, but no, you haven't been disqualified. The second round just ended and all of the other teams have arrived in Pache village. No fights have been issued yet. You got lucky, you're still in the tournament." Goldva explained.

"Really?" Yoh asked, eyes lighting up upon hearing the news.

"Yes, but now that you're awake, you can't stay in this building anymore. This is the Patch head building and normally participants aren't allowed to enter at all. Good luck exploring the rest of the village, the exit is down the hall and to your right." Goldva said as she walked out of the room.

Yoh took the hint and quickly left the building. He started walking down the road, slightly startled at first from all of the shops. He was still used to that way things were back 1,000 years ago. As he explored the village, he began to wonder where Horohoro and Ren were, he hadn't seen them since he passed out three years ago. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if they were able to make it to Pache village. He pulled out his oracle bell, which had been fixed during the time that he was unconscious, and scrolled through the team names.

He smiled when he saw both Horohoro and Ren's name on the list. They were in a team called The Ren, along with someone named Chocolove. He laughed as he thought about how mad Horohoro must've been when Ren picked the name. He found that he was in a team called Funbari Onsen along with Ryu and Faust.

'_Looks like Anna is in Pache village too._' Yoh thought upon noticing the team name. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying much attention where he was walking at the moment and ended up walking into a small African girl.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Yoh said apologetically.

"It's fine." The girl replied, though she seemed pretty upset for some reason.

"Is something wrong?" Yoh asked in concern.

"Opacho can't find Hao-sama." Opacho replied sadly.

"I might be able to help. Who's Hao?" Yoh asked with a carefree smile.

Opacho's jaw dropped. "You don't know of Hao-sama?" Yoh shook his head slightly.

"Hao-sama is the strongest shaman in the world. He an the Spirit of Fire have not lost a single fight in the whole tournament. Every one else knows of his power or has at least heard of it. How could you not know about Hao-sama?" Opacho demanded. Despite being so little, she could still glare pretty well.

"Sorry, I was kinda out of it for a while. What does he look like?" Yoh said sheepishly.

"Hao-sama... You look a bit like him. Hao-sama is much stronger though and his hair is longer. He usually wears a poncho and pants with stars on the straps. He also wears lego shoes and gloves and earrings with a big star." Opacho explained as they started walking.

"I'll help you look for him then. My name's Yoh and I was looking for my friends anyway. If we both look for Hao then we'll probably be able to find him faster and, who knows, I may even find my friends while I help you look." Yoh said as he began following her.

As they walked, Yoh offered to carry Opacho on his shoulders. She paused to think about it for a moment before agreeing. They walked around in search of Hao for about an hour with no luck in fining him. Eventually, they tried searching in the forest. Yoh was beginning to wonder where else someone could be on the island since they still weren't having any luck in finding him.

They were about to give up and try looking in the village again, when they heard some people shouting. Opacho hopped off of his shoulders and ran off in the direction that the voices came from. He was about to follow her when he heard a happy cry that sounded a lot like 'Hao-sama'. Figuring that Opacho would probably be alright, he headed back to the village to look for his friends and his fiancee, who would probably kill him for coming back so late.

XxX

"Hao-sama!" Opacho yelled as she ran over to the Spirit of Fire.

"Oh. Hi, Opacho. Where were you?" Hao asked as he picked up the small girl.

"Opacho got lost in the village but someone helped Opacho find Hao-Sama." Opacho replied happily.

"Oi, Hao! Don't ignore us!" Horohoro snapped. Anna held him back as he tried to attack.

"Hm? I forgot you all were still there." Hao replied as he lifted Opacho onto his shoulders.

"Don't mess with us Hao. Do you want me to slap you again?" Anna asked with a glare.

"I don't see why you refuse to marry me, you've already given up hope of your fiancee ever coming back." Hao said while ignoring her previous question.

"_Yoh-dono will come back, he will..._" Amidamaru said, though it seemed like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

"Why was Yoh-sama mentioned? Who are you all to him?" Opacho asked curiously.

"Anna's his... fiancee and we're his friends. Why do you want to know?" Ren replied calmly.

"Yoh-sama was the one who helped Opacho find Hao-sama, he said that he was looking for his friends too. He went back to the village to continue looking a little while ago." Opacho answered, surprised at the looks she received after she finished.

All of Yoh's friends stared blankly at Opacho before running back to the village to search for Yoh, completely forgetting that Hao was still there. Ren was shocked to hear that Yoh had reappeared as though he had only been gone for a day. Horohoro and Amidamaru were wondering what happened to Yoh. Faust thought about if Yoh would accept him in the team and Ryu was thinking about what he should make for Yoh to eat for dinner.

Anna wondered how on earth she would tell him the two important pieces of news and everyone wondered if he knew or how he would react when he found out. As they all were thinking about him, Ryu and Faust's oracle bell rang, the fight was Team Funbari Onsen vs team Kaze-gumi. After reading the announcement, everyone stopped running and they began walking towards the stadium.

"Guys, why are you even going? I know that girl said she saw him, but it's been three years. He's probably not going to show up." Joco asked quickly.

Anna gave him her legendary left, sending him flying to the stadium before the rest of them, and everyone else ignored the sight as they reached the doors to the stadium. Ryu and Faust walked into the stadium while everyone else went to go take a seat in the stands.

Even though everyone showed up to the fight, no one actually expected there to _be_ a fight. Pretty much all of the tournament participants knew that Yoh had been missing for three years. Team Kaze-Gumi arrived along with the announcer and then everyone waited. The clock kept ticking until there was only one minute left. Radim sighed and stood up to announce team Funbari Onsen's disqualification. He wondered why he even bothered to come today. As he lifted up his mic, the door creaked open.

"Wait!"

Everyone froze and turned to look at the entrance where Yoh was standing. Yoh ran through the doors and then over to his team mates. He gave them an apologetic smile and then turned to Radim.

"Sorry I'm late." Yoh said sheepishly.

"O-ok then. Let the fight between team Funbari Onsen and team Kaze-Gumi begin..." Radim said, slightly less enthusiastic from the surprise that Yoh actually showed up.

Yoh formed his oversoul with Amidamaru, and Faust and Ryu formed their own oversouls. They made a silent agreement to talk about it later and then they prepared to fight. Damayji used his oversoul to try and restrain Yoh's team while Brocken used his oversoul to attack from above. Everyone managed to dodge, but Ryu and Faust noticed how Yoh seemed to be slowed down more that usual. Ryu began attacking Damayji while Faust fought Brocken, leaving Yoh to fight against Boris.

Yoh was mostly on the defensive during the fight, he was still recovering from his long nap. He moved out of the way just in time to avoid the hit, then swung his sword and managed to cut Boris slightly. Ryu had already defeated Damayji and was now helping Faust battle Brocken. Boris unleashed a rain of spears on Yoh, which were meant to impale him. Right when Boris thought that Yoh was done for, he jumped out of the hill of spikes and knocked out Boris with a single hit. Ryu had just finished helping Faust defeat Brocken, so they had won the fight.

"And the winner is... Team Funbari Onsen!" Radim announced with new-found vigor.

The crowd cheered as the announcer's voice echoed throughout the stadium. Yoh tried not to show it, but he was a little dizzy. The three of them were about to leave when Radim stood in front of Yoh, blocking their way.

"Hey Yoh, I'm sure that everyone here want's to know right?" The crowd cheered louder as their answer. "Where were you for the past three years?" Radim asked, the stadium went completely silent while waiting for Yoh's answer.

"I guess you could say that I was asleep." Yoh said, slightly nervous.

"Asleep? For three years? How did something like that happen?" Radim asked curiously.

"Well, I don't fully remember at the moment. All I do remember is going to the graveyard to watch the stars, meeting a stranger wearing a fox eared hoodie who asked a lot of weird questions, hearing an odd lullaby, and blacking out." Yoh replied, slightly unsure of himself.

"It sounds like someone put a spell on you. Can you remember anything else about the one that you talked to?" Hao asked from within the stands.

"Um, he looked like he was about three years older than me at the time and his hoodie covered his eyes the whole time we spoke..." Yoh said slowly, trying to remember anything else.

"You know of anyone like that, Hao?" Radim asked.

"Unfortunately, no. Whoever this person is they must be really good at casting spells, even I wouldn't be able to keep someone asleep for three years... without killing them that is." Hao said in mild amusement.

Once the stadium was fairly silent, Hao and his followers left. Soon after, everyone began to leave the stadium as well. Ryu and Faust led Yoh back to the house, where everyone else was already waiting. The minute Yoh walked through the door, Anna grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the living-room. His parents, grandparents, and the rest of his friends were all waiting for him.

"You had us worried sick!" Keiko yelled as he wrapped him a suffocating hug. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry..." Yoh gasped as he struggled to breathe.

"Keiko, he just came back... Please don't send him to the spirit wold now." Mikihisa said quickly.

Keiko looked confused for a second before understanding finally set in and she released her hold on Yoh, allowing him to take in some much needed air. Now that he was no longer in the risk of dying from his mothers crushing hug, he was able to get a good look at everyone. Worry set in when he saw how everyone looked on edge.

"Is there something that you're not telling me?" Yoh asked, becoming even more worried when they avoided his gaze.

"Well dude-" Horohoro began, shifting his gaze to Anna to see whether or not she would say it.

"Since we didn't know if you were coming back or not, our engagement was canceled. I am now engaged to a member of one of the higher branch families." Anna said bluntly.

"Oh..." Yoh said, barely audible enough to be heard.

"It's late and I think we've talked enough for today. Go to bed, your training starts tomorrow." Anna ordered, leaving no room for further discussion.

Yoh nodded silently and followed Amidamaru upstairs. Once he was out of hearing range, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"You all saw how he looked just now, right? How on earth are we going to tell him?" Keiko asked as she looked over at Anna.

"I'll tell him tomorrow after training. He's going to be shocked to hear that he has an older twin brother and it's going to be even harder to explain that his brother is Hao." Anna said with a sigh.

"Um... Do you think he even knows who Hao is?"

XxX

Me: Please review.


	8. I have a brother?

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

~flashback~

xXx

Yoh woke up early the next morning, an hour before his alarm went off to be exact. He was still used to waking up early to work at the onsen and sleeping whenever he had the chance. Now that he was back to his own time, he would have to change that. He was dead if Anna caught him sleeping during training, so he made a mental note not to annoy her today. He had missed 1097 training sessions from being in a coma like state for the last three years.

Now that he thought about it, he was already sixteen. He had missed three birthdays during his absence. When he was in the past, he was seventeen... It looked like the present time went a year slower. While he was on that thought, he began to wonder why Nox asked to send him back in time anyway, it made no sense. He looked at the clock and turned off the alarm before it went off. Half an hour had already passed since he first woke up.

'_I better get started on my chores before Anna gets up. I don't want to want to remember how painful her slap is._' Yoh thought as he got dressed and rushed out the door.

He started with the floors and windows, being careful not to wake anyone up as he worked. Doing this much was easy compared to working in the onsen. Dusting off all of the mats took a little longer than he expected, but after that was done, he started cleaning the bathroom. He put the clothes in the wash and then started washing the dishes. He cleaned the bath until it was spotless. By the time he was finished, it was almost six o-clock, the time that his alarm usually would have gone off.

It only took him half an hour to do everything, but by the time he was done, he was completely worn out. '_I wonder why doing this much is so exhausting... I had to work a lot harder at the onsen. Well, it's six-o-clock now, I don't think I'll get in too much trouble if I take a short nap._' Yoh thought as he took a seat on the well cushioned couch.

XxX

Anna woke up to the annoying sound of Ryu's alarm clock. When she yanked opened the door to yell at Ryu, she saw Faust sleeping like the alarm clock didn't exist and Ryu sucking his thumb, but Yoh was nowhere to be seen. She turned off the alarm clock and threw it at Ryu to wake him up. After waking up and noticing how pissed off Anna looked, he quickly ran out the door to go make breakfast, crashing into several things along the way.

The noise woke up a lot of other people, soon everyone was awake. When they got downstairs, they were shocked at it's appearance, it looked completely spotless. Horohoro noticed Yoh sleeping on the couch and pointed so that everyone else could see. Yohmei walked over to go wake him up, but was stopped by Anna before he could even get close.

"Faust, a want you to give Yoh a check up. Something has been bothering me about the way that he was fighting yesterday, he seemed really slowed down while fighting the weakest member of team Kaze-gumi." Anna said as she thought back to yesterday's fight.

"Of course Anna." Faust replied.

The check up took about ten minutes. Once he was done, he walked back over to where Anna and everyone else were standing.

"Well?" Anna asked, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for the results.

"You're intuition seems to have been correct, miss Anna. Yoh's furryoku is at a dangerously low level right now. He shows signs of dehydration and seems to have just recovered from a fever. For now I recommend that he be excused from training for today to help complete his recovery... and please go a little easier on him for the next few weeks. I'm not sure why, but he shows the same signs as an animal which has been in a hibernation state for a while." Faust explained, he seemed somewhat perplexed as he thought about it.

"Hibernation? Wait, didn't Yoh say that he was asleep? I thought that he was joking, but you don't think he meant he was actually asleep for all this time, do you?" Hororohoro asked, noticing how everyone's eyes widened as he spoke.

A yawn broke them out of their thoughts as Yoh woke up. He slowly got up off of the couch and looked over at everyone. "What are you guys talking about?" Yoh asked with another yawn.

"Were you really asleep for three years?" Faust asked as everyone else just stared.

"Yes and no. Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the patch main building and was told that I had been in a state of suspended animation for the last three years. They said that I was lucky I wasn't disqualified and since I was awake, I had to leave the building. After that, I ran into a little girl named Opacho, who was looking for someone called Hao. I offered to help her look since I was looking for all of you anyway. We heard voices in the forest and Opacho instantly ran off in that direction. I heard her yell Hao-sama in a fairly happy tone, so I figured that she was fine and went off to search for all of you." Yoh explained.

"...Yoh, do you know who Hao is?" Mikihisa asked, despite the fact that everyone in the room could already guess the answer.

"Opacho said that he's the strongest shaman, but I've never actually heard of him before that." Yoh replied simply.

"We may as well take a seat because this is going to be a long explanation." Anna said as she let out a sigh.

XxX

After finishing the shopping that Hao had sent her to do, Opacho headed back to the hide out. Opacho smiled as she walked, Hao seemed to be in a good mood ever since Yoh showed up to his fight yesterday. For the past few weeks, Hao had been in an extremely bad mood, even Luchist stayed away from him. In fact, she was the only one who could get close without getting burned. Although, everything was back to normal now.

Opacho wondered why Hao seemed to be in a better mood after seeing Yoh. She knew that they were twins, but that didn't explain much. Hao seemed annoyed at Yoh's fighting ability, which made his pleasant mood rather strange. Usually when Hao saw any of the other Asakura's, he would get irritated. Despite that, other than Yoh's strength level, Hao didn't seem to mind Yoh. Once she reached the hide out, she decided to ask him what was different.

"Hao-sama, why are you in such a good mood after seeing Yoh-sama yesterday?" Opacho asked once she caught sight of the older shaman.

"No particular reason. I was simply glad to see my Otouto. Since he's still in the tournament, things will be easier for me." Hao replied in a nonchalant tone.

"What do you mean Hao-sama?" Opacho asked, tilting her head slightly from confusion.

"I intend to get Yoh to join my side. As my other half, he should be close to me." Hao replied simply.

"Opacho thinks she understands. When will Yoh-sama join Hao-sama?" Opacho asked curiously.

"Soon. Since Yoh has been gone for three years, the Asakura's as well as his 'friends' probably won't make it easy to get near him. Especially since he doesn't appear to remember much about what happened since the time he disappeared. None the less, I intend to get him to join us soon." Hao replied with a smile, the emotions behind which were known only to him.

XxX

"Wait. So you're telling me that Hao is my ancestor, he's participating in the shaman tournament to become shaman king so that he can create a shaman only world, _and_ he's my twin brother?" Yoh asked calmly.

"Yes." Everyone replied.

"...Cool, I always wanted an older brother!" Yoh said with a carefree laugh.

Everyone fell over anime style at the comment, with Horohoro being the first to recover. "Shouldn't you be mad or upset or something!?" Horohoro yelled.

"Why?" Yoh asked, slightly confused.

"Because... because... Help me out here Ren." Horohoro said as he turned to face the purple haired shaman.

"You just learned that your family had been keeping a secret from you, a very important secret I might ad. Plus, you learned that you have a homicidal twin that wants to destroy all of humanity _and _is actually capable of doing so... Most people would generally get upset after learning something like this." Ren explained.

"Oh." Yoh said simply.

"But then again, Yoh isn't exactly the type of person to get worked up over something like this." Ren added.

"Good point." Horohoro said, nodding in agreement.

After that, Ryu announced that breakfast was ready. Horohoro was the first one to make it to the table but Yoh was a close second. Surprisingly, it was fairly quiet as they ate, even Joco didn't try cracking a joke. Most of them were still in shock. Yoh seemed perfectly fine now, it was still hard to grasp that he had been unconscious for the entire time that he was missing.

However, Ren was the only one who wondered if there was something more to it. Yoh had said in the stadium that someone had rendered him unconscious at the result of a spell. Despite that, he didn't seem concerned in the slightest by the person. That would be strange for anyone, even Yoh.

"Yoh, you said earlier that you went unconscious after hearing a lullaby, which apparently caused a spell. If that's true, then why didn't you fight back?" Ren asked after finishing his glass of milk.

"Well, I guess you could say that I willingly fell under the spell, didn't know that it would last for three years though." Yoh said sheepishly.

"What do you mean, dude?" Horohoro asked, very confused.

"When I first saw him, it was a somewhat normal introduction, he said that he already knew my name though. He started asking me if I believed in reincarnation and stuff... Now that I think about it, whoever he was, he knew about Hao. Anyway, then he asked if I wanted to see what he meant by asking the questions. He didn't seem like he had bad intentions, so I agreed. Then I heard the lullaby and passed out." Yoh explained.

"You're too trusting." Anna stated. "What if that had been Hao and not some stranger? You could be dead now."

"If it had been Hao, then I still would've liked talking to him. Who knows, I might be able to change Hao's opinion of destroying humans if I actually get the chance to have a normal conversation." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"Yoh, don't try it. Hao has been trying to destroy humans for the past 1,000 years and no simple chat is going to change that. Hao is not the same as Ren, he can't be saved." Mikihisa warned.

~If they wanted you to fight and kill someone that they claimed _can't be saved_, would you?~

"I don't want to fight Hao." Yoh said calmly.

"If you don't fight him, we won't be able to stop him from achieving his goal for a shaman only world." Yohmei said, trying to explain the importance of the situation.

Yoh merely nodded before going outside for a short walk. He knew that trying to argue with them would be pointless. Amidamaru and Ren followed him. Ren suggested that they talk about what happened the last three years in order to lessen the mood. Yoh wasn't the type of person to give up on someone just because others said not to, Ren wouldn't be standing with him right now if he was.

Ren decided to lecture him about being too nice later, for now, he would just talk with Yoh and tell him about all that happened while he was gone. Yoh seemed to be a little happier as they talked, it was the first time where things were actually normal since he got back. Once Ren and Amidamaru had finished explaining what had happened, Yoh paused.

"Ren, Amidamaru, there's something that I didn't mention when I was explaining things before." Yoh said hesitantly.

"What?" Ren and Amidamaru asked.

"After I passed out, I didn't exactly stay unconscious for the last three years. The spell wasn't meant to put me to sleep, it was meant to send my spirit back in time. For the last three years, my spirit was living in Tokyo, the way it was 1,000 years ago. I had a feeling that the others would freak out if I mentioned it. I never met anyone named Hao back then, so I don't really see the point in thinking too much about it." Yoh explained.

"_What were you doing for three years in the past?_" Amidamaru asked curiously.

"Four years actually, for some reason it seems like time in the past is a year quicker... if that makes any sense. During that time I worked in an onsen." Yoh said with a smile.

"How on earth did someone other than Anna get you to work?" Ren asked in disbelief.

"The owner there was twice as harsh as Anna when you pissed her off." Yoh said, trying to hold back a waterfall of tears at the memory.

"_Haha. It's good to see you haven't changed much, Yoh._"

XxX

Me: *mumbles about pineapples*

Lyserg: ?

Me: Pineapples...

Lyserg: *hands pineapple*

Me: Yay! *dances happily with pineapple*

Lyserg: Aren't you going to eat it?

Me: No. I don't like eating pineapples that much. Too sweet.

Lyeserg: And yet you seem so obsessed with them _why_?

Me: I like_ saying_ pineapples. It's a fun word to say. *giggles*

Lyserg: *sweatdrop*

Me: Please review.


	9. Nice To Meet You

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

xXx

Hearing about the X-laws surprised Yoh. He didn't realize that others hated Hao so much that they would make a group for the sole purpose of destroying him and his followers. He had met the X-laws shortly after he started his walk and he didn't like the way that they acted. Other than the news of Hao, the X-Laws, someone named Lyserg, and Jocolove's entry in Ren's team, not much seemed to have changed.

It was getting late. He figured the he should probably head back home if he didn't want Anna to slap him. He could sense Anna's spirits coming, she had probably sent them to make sure he was heading back. As he walked past a few trees, two hands came out from behind him. The first covered his mouth and the second pulled him back behind one of the trees. He stayed stock still as Anna's spirits passed, not because he didn't want to move, but he couldn't, the one holding him was stronger than him and had a good hold on his neck.

When the spirits had left, whoever had been holding him let go. He turned around to see who had caught him, and found himself looking int the eyes of a mirror. It took him a moment the realize that there were, in fact, differences between him and this other person. Strangely enough, the person seemed slightly familiar... The other teen had longer hair, his ears were pierced, and he wore an unusual choice of clothing.

"Are you Hao?" Yoh asked as he recalled Opacho's description.

"Yes. You saw me in the stadium before, remember?" Hao replied simply.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that!" Yoh said quickly.

Hao had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, he didn't think Yoh would be so... absent minded.

"It's nice to meet you Nii-san." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

"...Nii-san?" Hao said questioningly.

"Well, you are the older twin, right?" Yoh asked.

"Yes. But I don't see why you would want to call me that." Hao said calmly.

"Because you're my brother and I care about you." Yoh replied simply.

Hao seemed to be contemplating something as he stared at Yoh with a blank expression. For a moment, Yoh could have sworn that he had seen something change in Hao's expression, but when he looked back it was gone, replaced by a playful smirk.

"How can you care about me? You barely even know me." Hao challenged.

"Maybe, but if I don't know you, I'd like to. We're twins, it's only natural to want to know eachother." Yoh replied.

"Perhaps." Hao replied. "Anyway, I came here to see if you would like to join me."

"I don't agree with what you're doing. It isn't right. I'm sorry, but my answer is no." Yoh said calmly.

"You have your beliefs and I have mine. However, you will join me eventually and I look forward to when you do." Yoh took a step back as Hao became consumed within a mass of flames. The fire died out just as quickly as it had come and Hao gone with it. It took Yoh a moment to remember what he had previously been doing. His face paled as he realized how late he was, Anna was going to kill him.

He turned and ran back towards the house, running like his life depended on it. Knowing Anna, it probably did. He didn't stop when he ran passed Ren's team or when he passed the X-Laws. The house was in sight and he had no intentions of being any more late than he already was. He almost crashed into Anna as he burst through the front door.

"You're late." Came the expected response. "You're lucky that Faust told me to take it easy on training you or else I'd have your training doubled." Anna stopped and gave him an icy glare. "Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes Anna." Yoh replied quickly.

Yoh ran up to his room before Anna changed her mind and doubled his training, it wouldn't be the first time she's done that. Once he had made it to his room, he took a seat on his futon and sighed. A moment later, Amidamaru came over to him with a look of concern.

"_Are you alright Yoh-dono?_" Amidamaru asked.

Yoh paused, he didn't want to worry Amidamaru with his thoughts. In truth, he was surprised when he saw Hao earlier. It was the first time since the stadium that they had met, but he seemed familiar, and it wasn't just because they looked alike. It was a small feeling, very distant, but still there. '_Maybe it's because we're twins._' Yoh thought suddenly. '_I've heard that twins have this special connection... Could that be it?_'

Yoh paused for a moment to ponder the thought. The familiar feeling didn't seem like it was caused by some special connection, it was like he had actually met Hao before. Although, there was another feeling that seemed to resemble something like a special connection when he was next to Hao. It was strange, it felt like his soul had been calling out for something. Yoh shook his head and then laid back on the futon.

'_I'm probably just over-thinking it._' Yoh thought with a carefree smile.

"I'm fine, Amidamaru." Yoh replied, just remembering that he had been asked a question.

"_I'm glad._" Amidamaru said with a sigh of relief.

"Ah, It's getting kind of late. Goodnight Amidamaru." Yoh said before pulling the blanket over him and closing his eyes. '_Yea. I'm just over-thinking it._' Yoh thought with a yawn as he drifted to sleep.

XxX

The earsplitting screech of Ryu's alarm clock woke Yoh up early the next morning. Well, actually, it wasn't the alarm clock that woke him, but Ryu, who tripped over him in a rush to turn off the alarm clock. Once Ryu had turned off the obnoxiously loud device, he ran to the kitchen to get breakfast started. Yoh and Faust walked out shortly after him and headed off to do their chores.

Because most everything was still clean from yesterday, Yoh didn't have much to do today. Doing the laundry and cleaning the bathroom mirror were the only things required of him for the morning. Both things took less than five minutes to complete before he was done. There was still some time before breakfast was done, so he figured he'd take a quick walk around the area property until Ryu called.

It was a nice day. The sun was shining, there was a warm breeze, and the grass was pleasantly soft. Days like today reminded him of the days before he was sent back in time. However, one thing seemed to be the same as the world of the past. The sky above his head and the clouds riding on the breeze, it was so similar to the world of one thousand years ago. Unlike the rest of the world, it didn't seem like the sky had changed in all that time.

He could just sit back and watch the clouds for hours if he had the chance. However, breakfast was done in in only twenty minutes. After they all had finished eating, Yoh went out with Amidamaru for a short walk. He had gotten a good idea of what the village looked like yesterday, so there wasn't any need to explore. Today he just wanted to hang out and watch the clouds.

He found a nice spot by the lake and plopped himself down on the grass. It was still slightly damp from the morning dew and cool to the touch, but it had a rather nice feel to it. Just as he was about to sit back and look up at the sky, his oracle bell rang.

XxX

Me: Please review.


End file.
